The assailants dropped on the ground like flies as if an unknown force knocked them out. With jaws dropping in amazement, Red's group couldn't believe their eyes! One moment they were preparing for an attack, the next moment, the attackers fainted.
"Red! Red!" Blond shook him up but to no avail. Red was able to smile faintly before falling on a deep slumber. There were no major injuries evident on his skin so Blond carefully dragged him back to their 'not-so-safe' house, laying him down on a few layers of blankets.
"I kept on telling him to rely on us but he just went and acted by himself. When will he ever learn." Shaking his head, Blond got a few spare towels from the corner of the room, pouring water over it so they could at least ease Red's burns even a little bit. Freckles proceeded on preparing the bandages and pain relievers for later.
The spine-chilling night gradually got even more freezing as the Inside plunged deeper into the night. All this time, Blond and the others formed a circumference around Red. "There, all done. Thank you for wiping the dust off him, Blond. We don't have to worry about his burns getting infected."
"How about his current state? Won't he be waking up anytime soon?" Gadge curiously asked. Like everyone else, they didn't want to find themselves in the same predicament as before while Red was still unconscious.
"Compared to when he fought two Outclass humanoids, I'd say his condition is considerably better. Let's be patient. He was electrocuted pretty hard and all." Freckles constantly checked on Red's temperature as she answered Gadge.
*knock* "knock!"
"RED!!! BLOND!!!" Someone screamed from the outside. "PLEASE OPEN UP!"
Everyone in the room immediately fell into deep silence. Staring at each other, their eyes widened after realizing that it was happening all over again. Blond assumed Red's position and gestured that they remain inaudible.
They agreed by nodding quickly.
Blond mindfully watched his footsteps as he approached the single sheet of metal that divided them from the other side. "Who's this?"
"IT'S LILY! I'm on the same block as Knuckle and Short, remember?" The girl responded outside. "Can you please open up?"
"Sorry, but we can't." Blond simply replied. "We have our reasons."
"I see... that's alright. Where's Red? Is he asleep?" Lily worriedly asked. "Nothing happened to him, right?"
Blond and Lily bore a resemblance from dramatic scenes from the movies as they talked while being separated by a thin door. No one brought it up though since it seemed like Lily came bearing urgent news.
"Yeah, I just woke up. Everyone else is still asleep. Anyways, what's up? yawn~" Blond sleepily replied, reenacting a yawn so it would sound even more believable.
"That's a relief. I just sneaked out from our block while they were sleeping. Short wanted to come too but I told him that he should give an alibi to others for me. We have a base a few meters from this building." Lily started explaining with a rushed tone. It's as if she was panicking. Blond, on the other side, had no idea how to console her.
"In any case," She continued, gulping a huge breath and exhaling it before speaking again. "A new objective was being implemented for those Blocks who didn't have enough flags."
"Let me guess, they more or less put a bounty on Red, am I right?" Blond stated. He had been expecting it ever since the two outclass were sent to fight Red to the death. Now, it became clearer for him.
This much proves that Head Cipher wants Red dead... but he doesn't have the power to harm him directly.
"Yeah... more or less. Our newly appointed leader told us not to do anything about it. He's a good friend of Knuckle and he's still bitter at Red for Knuckle's death. It's only being circulated around the other blocks so I guessed you weren't warned. That's why I came here." Lily spoke with concern. She knew that if anyone found out about her recent actions, she might be labeled a traitor and driven out of their block. With that in mind, she still risked informing Red and his group.
"So, our block is now another 'flag' in the mock battle? This is worse than expected." Blond muttered to himself before responding to Lily. "You should go back to your block now. I'll tell the others once they wake up. Also, let me just ask one thing."
"Yes?"
"What do you hope to gain by telling us these things? I mean, any reasonable person wouldn't disclose such sensitive information without ulterior motives, right? What is it?" Blond gravely questioned. He still didn't have any trust for the teens in his group, more so with the others. That's why he just had to ask and clarify things for her.
"I... I won't say I don't have any but... " Lily chocked. "If we have a chance of escaping this place, then I figured Red would be the only one to achieve it. That time when we had a joint-testing in your block, I knew then that Red was not of the ordinary. That's why I want to get on his good side in hopes that you will welcome me in your block when the right time comes."
"That's fair. If it's just that, then I think there's nothing wrong with it. Still, I can't guarantee you a permanent spot in our group. I just hope that Red would not be as unwelcoming as I am." Blond said. He didn't want Lily to have false hope on Red. As far as he knows, Red trusts no one but himself and the cold-hard truth of their circumstances. "Still, thanks for the tip. We'll keep Red safe since we're betting our lives on him as well."
"Thank you... I'll be going,"
A series of rustling was heard outside as Lily went back to her group.
"What was that about, Blond? Bad news?" Curl broke the silence with a question everyone wanted to ask. "That was Lily right? The one from Knuckle's block?"
"Yeah, it's about the mock battle. It's ending in a few hours, right?" Blond sat down, completing the circumference of teens that surrounded Red once again. "Apparently, there was a change in the objectives. I don't want to get into the details, but to summarize, we're being targeted by Head Cipher himself."
"Head Cipher? The leader of the Nexus Corporation?!" Gadge rhetorically exclaimed.
"Yes. In short, we're part of the objectives of this Elite Conquest. Anyone who eliminates Block-16 would grant a secure spot of safety at the next event. That means, even if they don't have any flags in their inventory, they'll be deemed as winners as long as they get rid of us."
Silence~
Speechlessness overcame the group as they mulled over their current predicament. Unbeknownst to them, Blond lied about the details. He informed everyone that Block-16 was the target... not Red. That's because there's always a slim chance of traitors existing in the midst of them. If they had known that Red was the only target, they might come to the most plausible action and that is, to eliminate Red before anyone does. Blond didn't want anyone turning on each other just yet, that's why he didn't tell the crux of the issue and decided to keep it a secret from them until the mock battle concludes. "Red, you have to wake up soon. What is it with you and falling into unconsciousness? Are you calling yourself the protagonist now, huh?" Blond smiled at the thought.
If there was a protagonist in our story, then, it should be Red. No questions asked. I'm just a supporting character when it comes to his otherworldly qualities, by that, I mean physical and mental qualities. Blond said to himself.
"What do we do now? We got five flags. Should we hunt for some more?" Scar asked. He still didn't forget the initial plan that Red provided a few hours ago.
"No. As soon as Red wakes up, we're going to head to the southwesternmost part of the map. I'm guessing not a lot of people went there since the City-section is on the opposite side."
"How do you know all these, Blond? Do you have a map of the place?" Curl pointed out.
"I-if you have a m-map... t-then you should've lent it to m-me... I needed it for m-my scouting." Cat shyly muttered. She still didn't have enough confidence to talk to everyone casually. There was a slight hesitation in her voice though, as if she was lying about something but no one noticed it.
"If I did, Red would've known about it. I just used my deductive reasoning on it. I did the math and predicted the actions of the other blocks based on Red and Cat's report. I'm sure that there won't be a lot of workers on that part of the map."
"Let's go there, then." Someone spoke. "I'm guessing you got some plan up your sleeves. Am I right, Blond?"
It was the red-haired teenager that was sleeping at the center of their circle.